ghoul

English

Alternative forms

• ghole

Etymology

From Persian غول (ğul) from Arabic غُول (ḡūl). Compare French goule, of the same origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuːl/, /ɡʊəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ɡʉl/
• Rhymes: -uːl

Noun

ghoul (plural ghouls)

1. (mythology) A demon said to feed on corpses.
   • 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Pickman's Model‎^[1]:

     The other chamber had shown a pack of ghouls and witches over-running the world of our forefathers, but this one brought the horror right into our own daily life!.

   • 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:

     From my laboratory in the Castle east
     To the master bedroom, where the vampires feast
     The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
     To get a jolt from my electrodes
     They did the Mash
     They did the Monster Mash.

2. A graverobber.
3. A person with an undue interest in death and corpses, or more generally in things that are revolting and repulsive.
4. (derogatory, colloquial) A person with a callous or uncaring attitude to human life and suffering, particularly when prioritizing economic concerns.
   • 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 195:

     Restored to bumptiousness, Peter arrived jauntily in the kitchen, to survey Mrs Dibble's body as a spectacle new to him, and remark, "So the old trout's done herself in properly this time, I'm told. About time she did, the way she's been going on here." "Shut up, you old ghoul, and help Dr Grimsby to carry her upstairs."

Derived terms

• book-ghoul
• ghoulie ghoul
• ghoulie-ghoul
• ghoulish

Related terms

• (demon) Algol
• (graverobber) resurrection man, resurrectionist, body snatcher

Related terms

• jinn
• jann
• nasnas
• shaitan
• angel

Descendants

• Portuguese: ghoul

Translations

a spirit said to feed on corpses

• Arabic: غُول (ar) f (ḡūl)
• Azerbaijani: qulyabanı, qul (az)

  South Azerbaijani غول (ğul)

• Bulgarian: вампир (bg) m (vampir)
• Catalan: gul m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 食屍鬼 / 食尸鬼 (shíshīguǐ)

• Czech: ghůl m, vampír m, démon (cs) m
• Dutch: ghoul m, ghoulia f, lijkenpikker (nl) m
• Esperanto: kadavromanĝulo, ĥulo
• Finnish: ghouli
• French: goule (fr) f
• Georgian: გული (guli), ვამპირი (vamṗiri)
• German: Ghul (de) m
• Hebrew: ע׳ול m
• Hindi: ग़ूल m (ġūl), पिशाच (hi) m (piśāc), गूल m (gūl)
• Hungarian: halottevő szellem, lélekfaló szellem, hullarabló szellem, vámpír (hu), gúl
• Icelandic: náæta f
• Ido: gulo (io)
• Irish: amhailt f
• Italian: gula (it), ghoul (it)
• Japanese: グール (gūru)
• Korean: 구울 (guul)
• Macedonian: гул m (gul), ва́мпир m (vámpir), та́ласам m (tálasam)
• Ojibwe: wiindigoo
• Ottoman Turkish: غول (ğul)
• Persian: غول (fa) (ğul)
• Polish: ghul (pl) m
• Portuguese: ghoul m, carniçal m, gula (pt) f, guli m, goule f
• Romanian: vampir (ro) m
• Russian: гуль (ru) m (gulʹ), вурдала́к (ru) m (vurdalák), вампи́р (ru) m (vampír)
• Spanish: gul (es) m, demonio necrófago
• Swedish: ghoul
• Turkish: gulyabani (tr), şeytan (tr), hortlak (tr), gul (tr), gûl (tr)

a graverobber

• Bulgarian: мародер (bg) m (maroder)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 盜墓者 / 盗墓者 (dàomùzhě)

• Czech: vykradač hrobů m
• Georgian: საფლავის მძარცველი (saplavis mʒarcveli)
• German: Grabräuber (de) m
• Hungarian: hullarabló (hu), sírgyalázó
• Macedonian: ма́родер m (mároder)
• Polish: hiena cmentarna (pl) f
• Romanian: jefuitor de morminte m
• Turkish: nebbaş (tr) (archaic), mezar soyguncusu (tr)

Anagrams

• Lough, lough

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ghoul, from Persian غول (ğul).

Noun

ghoul m (plural ghouls)

1. (mythology, folklore) ghoul (a spirit said to feed on corpses)